Chef Iain Thompson and his wife Lisa like to keep busy. For the last five years they have been running the popular Deli Shack at Tiverton Pannier Market, and since last year also providing the delicious food at the Deli Shack Café at Yearlstone Vineyard.
And now they have just converted a former storeroom at the market into a permanent home for their deli and to expand the products they sell.
The larger space was cleared out and last month the business, which had previously traded from inside the market building, began operating from its new home.
And Iain and Lisa said they are delighted with the move and have now achieved their dream of a new larger premises.
"The new permanent Deli Shack has been created in a beautiful old brick and wood built storeroom at the side of the market," said Lisa. "Mid Devon District Council wanted to make better use of the storeroom and asked if we would like to take on the tenancy.
"We spent most of the summer sourcing more than 400 new lines at the same time as being manically busy up at the Deli Shack Café in Yearlstone with all the fantastic weather we had. We're now number one on Trip Advisor out of 50 restaurants in the Mid Devon area.
"We finally opened about a month ago and haven't stood still since. Our aim is to be a real destination for Devon foodies and a great place to find perfect gifts and unusual ingredients for all food lovers.
"We still sell a fabulous range of cheese (usually more than 60 different varieties), tapas and charcuterie but we can now offer everything from sushi kits to a huge range of herbs, spices and seasonings, top quality oils and vinegars, paella pans and artisan hand painted Spanish pottery."
The hard-working couple have also just launched www.presentsforfoodies.com which is full of gift ideas for bespoke-made hampers for everyone who loves cooking and good food.
Iain said the idea for expanding the Deli Shack into a new unit had first come around a year ago and he was delighted with the "innovative thinking" he had encountered from Mid Devon District Council about using some of the unoccupied outer space of the market.
He said: "We are determined to give the area the best possible and will be stocking cheeses from nine different countries as well as charcuterie, tapas, condiments and cooking ingredients as well as local artisan produce."
Iain, who was a commercial director for an international company, downsized in 2004 and moved to Mid Devon where he trained as a chef at Petroc and went on to work in local schools.
Lisa, who also had a high-powered job in marketing before relocating to Devon, added: "The past five years have been very hard work but we are now beginning to see some satisfying results.
"We love the deli and creating the food at Yearlstone. Our aim there is to create food where the emphasis is on local fresh produce. People go there to have an experience and get the best of the West Country with marvellous views.
"Our signature dish is our Deli Shack platter, meat or cheese, full of the best cold meats and cheeses from around the region. Many of our suppliers are award winners.
"Our businesses work really well together. Through the delicatessen we can get a greater range of local produce."
The couple are a great example of how it is possible to change your life and make a success out of something you enjoy doing.
"I was originally in sales and marketing," said Lisa. "When I lost my job we decided it was time to do something that we both love – and that is working with food and people.
"We opened the Deli Shack at the Pannier Market in 2007 and that proved to be really popular, so when the opportunity came to open the café at the vineyard last year we jumped at it.
"And now we are lucky to have our new premises in the market."
And the couple are really enjoying the experience.
"As a trained chef I've always had a passion for West Country and seasonal produce and so our business is simply an extension of that passion put into practice," said Iain.
Market manager Chris Firth said this use of additional market space was the first step in ambitious plans to reinvigorate the market.
"In five years' time we want to double the size of the market and the number of traders," he said. "We are planning to invest in a roof for the open area of the market because at present if we have a rainy day we have about half the number of people we do on a dry day.
"We hope high quality businesses like Iain and Lisa's deli will increase the footfall and I think there is a growing awareness that the market has a central role to play in the regeneration of the whole of the town centre."The new-look Deli Shack will normally be open from Tuesday through to Saturday up to Christmas and then from Monday to Saturday from January. The café is now operating on winter hours, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 3pm. The café will close for the season on December 14 re-opening on April 4, 2014 at 11am.
Click here to find out how to win a Deli Shack hamper worth £35.
